“Some of these stories are closer to my own life than others are, but not one of them is as close as people seem to think.” Alice Murno, from the intro to Moons of Jupiter

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see." Arthur Schopenhauer

“Why does everything you know, and everything you’ve learned, confirm you in what you believed before? Whereas in my case, what I grew up with, and what I thought I believed, is chipped away a little and a little, a fragment then a piece and then a piece more. With every month that passes, the corners are knocked off the certainties of this world: and the next world too. Show me where it says, in the Bible, ‘Purgatory.’ Show me where it says ‘relics, monks, nuns.’ Show me where it says ‘Pope.’” –Thomas Cromwell imagines asking Thomas More—Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

We've given up our minds for the sake of convenience and entertainment.

It's true that far too many of us have bought into the bullshit narrative that markets have magical powers, that allowing businesses to poison the earth redounds to the collective benefit, that the existence of multibillionaires is somehow good for everyone.

I agree with you completely on these points. And I agree that the rich have far to much political sway.

But messages mean nothing unless they cost something.

Occupy Wall Street--good work so far, but way too few people really care what you have to say.

Being heard is not a matter coming together and shouting. There's something pathetic about how much your protests resemble parties and festivals.In Vietnam, monks protested by lighting themselves on fire. Gandhi went on hunger strikes.

It's not what you believe or what you're willing to shout or Sharpie on signs.

How seriously people take your message is a matter of how much you're willing to give up.